Internal-combustion engine



A. L. RiKER. INTERNAL COMBUSTJON ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 21, 19H;

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l A L. RIKER. INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FIL'ED FEB. 21, 19H- 1.,19%.,0 68. Patented Aug. 8, 1916. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- ANDREW I-h' BIKER, OF BBIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE LOCOMOBILE COMPANY OF AMERICA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

I INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. a, rare.

Application filed February 21, 1911. Serial No. 609,872.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that l, ANDREW L. BIKER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bridgeport, county of Fairfield, State. of Connecticut, (whose post-otiice address is Bridgeport, Connecticut,) have invented an Improvement in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to internal. combustion engines, and particularly to the means for controlling the admission of fuel to the cylinder and the exhaust ot' the waste. gases therefrom.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying illustration of one specific embodiment thereof, while its scope will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a central sectional elevation taken through a cylinder of an internal combustion engine embodying one form ofthe invention; Fig. 2 is a detail showing the cam and actuating link for actuating the controlling valve; Fig. 3 is a section similar to Fig. 1 showing a modified form of the invention; Fig. 4: is an elevation partly in section showing the construction of the split rings employed in connection with the valve; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of the rings shown in Fig. 4.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to the illustrated embodiment of the invention shown. in Fig. 1, there is provided a main cylinder 1 having a Water jacket 2 secured to the crank casing 3. The engine may consist of a single cylinder or a plurality of cylinders, the application of the invention to a multiple cylinder engine being evident from the description herein contained of its embodiment in a single cylin witha cylinder head ll containing the spark plug 15 and provided with the water jacket chamber 16 which is in communication with the cylinder water jacket 2.

\Vhile the invention is applicable to other types of engines, herein an engine of the Utto-cycle type is shown, wherein the admission to and exhaust from the working space of the cylinder is controlled by a sleeve valve 17. While the. sleeve may occupy other relations, herein it is interposed between the piston member 10 and the cylinder member 1 and moved longitudinally in sliding contact with the walls of each nie1nher, acting to control communication between the working space of the cylinder and the inlet and outlet ports 4 and To actuate the sleeve the latter is connected at its lower end (Fig. by the link 18 to the bell crank lever 19 pivoted at 20 on the crank case, the opposite arm of the lever carrying a cam roll 21 which engages with the track cam 22 and is thereby given movement to appropriately actuate the sleeve 17 The cam is: herein mounted upon a countershaft which is driven from the crank shaft through the gears 2i and 25 (represented in dotted lines, Fig. 1), at one-half the speed of the crank shaft, as is usual in valves of this type, so that the sleeve executes one full reciprocation for each two reciprocations of the working piston. In engines employing valves of this type it has been difii'cult to construct the ports so as'to prevent leakage and particularly in and about the cylinder head under the high pressure obtaining during'the working stroke. It has been attempted to secure good results by giving the upper prolonged end of the sleeve valve a sliding fit between the walls of the cylinder and the rentrant walls of the cylinder head. This, however, is neither creases directly with the working pressure in the cylinder and therefore with the increased necessity for such resistance.

Referring to the drawings, it will be seen that the upper portion of the sleeve 17 where it overlies the ports 4 and 5 is provided with a recess in which is seated a pair of concentric split expansion rings 26 and 27. The two rings are provided with a series of ports 28 and 29, respectively, extending circumferentially around the rings, the ports of one ring being in registration with those of the other and being also in registration with a series of ports 80 formed in the walls of the sleeve 17, so that, as the latter is raised or lowered, these ports act to open the working space of the cylinder alternately to the exhaust or to the admission passages. The rings and sleeve are kept in fixed circumferential relation by any suitable means such as the pin 31 (Fig. 1). To

- press the rings outwardly, the sleeve is provided with openings of suitable number and size to expose the inner walls of the rings to the pressure within the cylinder space. Herein two rows of such openings 32 and 33 are shown, these openings or a number of them also passing through the inner ring 27 so that the outer ring 26 is directly exposed to cylinder pressure. It therefore follows that when the engine is compressing a charge.

or firing the same both rings are expanded and pressed outwardly under a force proportional to internal pressure, and the resistance of the valve to leakage is correspondingly increased. The pressure applied to the rings may be increased or reduced by increasing or reducing the area of the ring portions exposed to the internal pressure. In some cases no perforations in the inner ring 27 may be necessary, the pressure on the inner ring being suflicient to seat the outer ring against the ports with the required pressure. Since the rings are definitely located circumferentially'of the sleeve, the split portion of the outer ring may be arranged to lie opposite the ribs 6 and 7. Preferably the split portions of the two rings are located out of register with each other and preferably those of each ring are located at diametrically opposite points (see Fig. 5 wherein the divisions of the outer ring are indicated by the reference letter a and those of the inner ring by the reference letter 6). This location of the split portions is desirable for the reason that leakage is thereby greatly decreased.

The cam 22 is so formed as to give the proper timing of the valve with reference to admission, compression, firing and exhaust. On the charging stroke of the piston the valve is lowered to open the inlet port 4 through the sleeve ports to the working space of the cylinder, the valve moving back to close the ports on the return or compression stroke. During the firing stroke the valve moves stillfarther back so that when the exhaust stroke commences it hasopened the exhaust port- 5 to the cylinder space. When the exhaust stroke is completed the valve moves quickly forward (as represented in Fig. 1) to open the admission port 4.

It will be seen that the reentrant walls of the cylinder head 14 do not necessarily have contact with the walls of the sleeve. While they may have such contact, preferably a slight elearance is provided as shown, the space between the cylinder and the sleeve being preferably so proportioned that on the exhaust stroke the sleeve substantially fills such space and expels all gases therefrom.

In Fig. 1 thesleeve is shown as having a uniform external diameter, the internal diameter of the sleeve being reduced to provide the recess for the expansion rings. This construction will ordinarily leave a clearance sufliciently small to give the required compression, but if a smaller clearance space is desired, or, for other reason, it may be required to have the piston travel back farther through the sleeve, the latter may be of a uniform internal diameter as represented in Fig. 3, the expansion rings therein being contained in a recess formed between raised portions 34 and 35 on the sleeve. This provides means for further limiting the clearance space if desired, the construction otherwise being the same as that shown in Fig. 1. V

While I have herein shown and described for purposes of illustration one specific form of the invention, it is to be understood that the latter is not limited to the precise construction disclosed nor to the form or relative arrangement of parts nor to the particular type of engine described, but that extensive modifications may be made in the in the sleeve whereby communication between the inlet and outlet ports and the working space of the cylinder is controlled.

2. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a cylinder having inlet and outlet ports, a working piston, a sleeve movably arranged between the piston and cylinder, means for actuating said sleeve, a split expansion ring carried by said sleeve and overlying said ports, a second split expansion ring between said outer ring and the sleeve, said rings and sleeve having ports in registration and adapted to control communication between the working space of the cylinder and the said inlet and outlet ports and said sleeve also being perforated to expose said rings to the pressure of the cylinder space.

3. An internal combustion engine having a cylinder, one or more ports therein, a working piston, a sleeve having one or more ports to control the cylinder port or ports, a split expansion ring having a port or ports in registration with'the ports of the sleeve, said ring being carried by said sleeve and being adapted to overlie said cylinder port or ports, and means to impart an intermittent. motion to said sleeve. v

4. In an internal combustion engine the combination with a cylinder provided with a port or ports, a working piston, a sleeve having a port or ports to control communication between the cylinder space and the cylinder ports, a split expansion ring carried by said sleeve and adapted to cooperate with said cylinder port or ports, and means to impart an intermittent motion to said sleeve.

5. In an internal combustion engine the combination with a working piston of a ported cylinder, a sleeve valve controlling said ports, the working portion of said valve including a split expansion ring adapted to travel over the cylinder ports, and means to impart an intermittent motion to said sleeve.

6. In an internal combustion engine the combination with a working piston of a ported cylinder, a sleeve valve controlling said ports, the working portion of said valve including a split expansion ring adapted to travel over the cylinder ports, said ring being exposed to the pressure of the cylinder space, and means to impart an intermittent motion to'said sleeve.

7. In an internal combustion engine the combination with a ported cylinder of a working piston, a ported expansion ring with means for. causing the same to travel over the cylinder ports and control communication between the same and the cylinder space, and means to impart an intermittent motion to said ring.

8. In an internal combustion engine the combination with a ported cylinder of a pisexposed to the pressure of the cylinder space and controlling communication between the latter and the cylinder port or ports, the splits of said rings being out of register with each other.

10. An internal combustion engine having a cylinder provided with an annular port interrupted by a rib forming a continuation of the internal cylindrical wall of the cylinder, an expansion ring having a split in alinement with said rib, and means for causing said ring to travel over said port and control communication between the same and the cylinder space, while maintaining the alinement of said split with said I'll).

11. An internal combustion engine having a cylinder provided with an annular port interrupted by a rib forming a continuation of the internal cylindrical wall of the cylinder, a plurality of concentric split expansion rings, the outer expansion ring having a split in alinement with said rib, and the other ring or rings having a split or splits out of alinement therewith, and means for causing said rings to travel over said port and control communication between the same and the cylinder space while still maintaining the alinement of the split portion of the outer rings with said rib.

12. An internal combustion engine having a piston, a crank shaft, a cylinder provided with admission and exhaust ports, a sleeve mounted to slide upon the walls of the cylinder between the same and the piston, means for reciprocatingsaid sleeve once for each two revolutions of the crank shaft, said sleeve having a ported split portion coverin the said ports and adapted to control admission and exhaust through said ports.

13. In an internal combustion engine the combination with a fixed cylinder having a. bore of uniform diameter, oppositely disposed admission and exhaust ports at the rear of the working space. a piston, a pair of arc-shaped valve members beyond the rearward limit of piston travel, and means for moving said members for opening and closing said ports.

14:. In an internal combustion engine the combination with a cylinder having admis sion and exhaust ports in the explosion chamber, a piston, slide valve plates arranged to open and close said ports and located beyond the rearward limit of piston travel, said valve plates being exposed to the pressure of the worklng cylinder space, and means for moving said plates for opening and closing said ports.

15. An internal combustion engine comprising a cylinder having a water-jacketed Working space, a water-jacketed cylinder head, said cylinder having admission and exhaust ports arc-shaped valve members automatically seated by exposure to the pressure of the gas within the cylinder, said plates Working between the Walls of the cylinder and the cylinder head and out of the direct path of heat dispersion from the working space to the Water-jacket.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

ANDREW L. BIKER. Witnesses:

C. W. KING, R. M. YOUNG. 

